Red Magic 8S Pro debuts Snapdragon 8+ Gen 2 chipset, 8S Pro+ offers up to 24GB RAM

The Red Magic 8 Pro was among the first Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 phones, coming at the very end of 2022. Now company is bringing the improved Red Magic 8S Pro with Qualcomm’s next best chip, better cooling and a cooler-looking exterior.

The major change on the S-model is that it uses the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 2, a faster version of the 8 Gen 2 chip that powered the Red Magic 8 Pro. The Plus version boosts the prime core from 3.2GHz to 3.36GHz and increases the GPU clock speed from 680MHz to 719MHz. What this means is that the 8S Pro should have 5% higher CPU and 5.7% higher GPU performance.

Yes, this is basically the same configuration as the “for Galaxy” chips but with a neutral branding. This is the first phone to use this particular version of the chip.

Anyway, the phone comes in several configurations, you can choose up to 12GB of LPDDR5X RAM and up to 512GB of UFS 4.0 storage. But there is a Pro+ model with twice that, we'll get to it in a bit. The Red Core 2 chip makes another appearance and offloads some tasks from the Snapdragon.

The chipset’s performance level is maintained by the improved ICE 12 cooling system. Compared to ICE 11 (used by the 8 Pro), the new system adds 5W/mK thermal paste and improves the air duct used by the 20K RPM fan. Every variant of the 8S Pro has RGB lighting on that fan (previously, this was exclusive to the premium transparent version).

Speaking of variants, the new model keeps the aviation-grade aluminum frame and front glass, the back material depends on the variant you pick, which also dictates how much RAM and storage you get.

Red Magic 8S Pro versions: Aurora • Platinum • Midnight

The phone is built around a large 6.8” AMOLED display with 1,116 x 2,480px resolution (20:9) and 100% DCI-P3 coverage. Like the previous model, this panel peaks at 1,300 nits of brightness and as DC dimming. Protection is provided by the sheet of Gorilla Glass 5 on top.

The display has a refresh rate of 120Hz and a touch sampling rate of 960Hz. There are two shoulder triggers with 520Hz touch sampling rate (7.4ms response time). The dev team claims they have optimized the software responsible for those triggers.

The phone runs on a 6,000mAh battery with 80W fast charging, same as the 8 Pro before it. The new cooling system also includes a graphene layer below the screen, which helps spread out the heat during charging.

The camera configuration hasn’t changed. The 16MP front-facing camera is under the display, so that it doesn’t get in the way of game graphics. The rear camera is based on the 50MP GN5 sensor (1/1.57”).

Wired connectivity is on the level – there is a 3.5mm headphone jack and the USB-C port can do video out if you want to play on a larger display, wireless screen sharing is an option as well at up to 120Hz with Red Magic Studio. For those times when playing without headphones, there are two speakers with DTS:X Ultra sound.

The Red Magic 8S Pro goes on pre-order today and will go on sale on the 11th (next Tuesday). The base 8/128GB model starts at CNY 4,000 ($550/€510/₹45,500), you can see a price breakdown below. Note that the Aurora variant (with a transparent back) is only available in two memory configurations and they are a bit pricier than the other two colorways.

As we mentioned earlier, there is a Red Magic 8S Pro+ as well - this one starts at 16GB of RAM and 256GB storage for CNY 5,500 ($760/€700/₹62,500). Once again the Aurora version has separate storage options, going all the way up to 24GB of RAM and 1TB storage for CNY 7,500 ($1,035/€950/₹85,000). You read that right, this is the first phone with 24GB of RAM. Also, the Plus model supports faster charging at 165W but has a smaller 5,000mAh battery.

One last thing - there is a Red Magic 8S Pro+ Bumblebee limited edition (16/512GB) for CNY 6,500, which comes with a bespoke yellow design for the back along with multiple matching acceessories.